Inside Aston Villa’s record-breaking Visit Rwanda sponsorship deal

Aston Villa have announced Visit Rwanda as the club’s new Principal Partner in a landmark multi-year agreement that becomes the most valuable commercial sponsorship deal in the club’s 152-year history.

Under the agreement, Visit Rwanda will serve as Aston Villa’s Principal Partner, Official Tourism Partner and Official Coffee Provider, with its branding appearing on the front of the shirts worn by the men’s, women’s and academy teams throughout the partnership.

The sponsorship is reported to be worth up to £20 million (US$26 million) per season, subject to performance-related bonuses, making it one of the biggest shirt sponsorship deals in English football outside the traditional ‘Big Six’.

The exact duration has not been officially disclosed by Aston Villa or Visit Rwanda.

Some media reports and football insiders have suggested the agreement could run for three years, but neither Aston Villa nor Visit Rwanda has officially confirmed the length of the contract.

Beyond shirt branding, the partnership will include tourism promotion, investment campaigns, football development programmes, coaching exchanges, leadership initiatives, charitable projects and professional development opportunities aimed at strengthening ties between Rwanda and the Premier League club.

Aston Villa President of Business Operations, Francesco Calvo, described the agreement as another milestone in the club's global expansion.

“This is a very exciting partnership for Aston Villa Football Club and a symbol of the club’s continuing expansion and growth into international markets”, Calvo said.

“There is a great range and depth of opportunities for collaboration, learning and innovation”.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Convention Bureau (RCB), Janet Karemera, said the partnership reflects Rwanda’s ambition to reach global audiences through one of the world’s most influential sporting platforms.

“This sponsorship is a powerful expression of Rwanda’s ambition to engage global audiences through one of the world’s most influential platforms and position our country as a destination to visit, invest and do business”, Karemera said, adding that the collaboration would help expand Rwanda’s visibility across the United Kingdom, Europe and other international markets while supporting the long-term development of football in Rwanda.

Supporters who had already purchased Aston Villa’s 2026-27 home shirt before the announcement were offered the opportunity to have the Visit Rwanda logo applied free of charge at the club’s official stores.

Founded in 1874, Aston Villa are among England’s most successful and historic football clubs.

The Birmingham-based side have won the English First Division/Premier League seven times, the FA Cup seven times, the League Cup five times, the FA Community Shield once outright (sharing the trophy on several other occasions), and achieved their greatest international success by winning the European Cup (now UEFA Champions League) in 1982, defeating Bayern Munich 1-0 in Rotterdam.

The club also lifted the UEFA Super Cup later that year after overcoming Barcelona, making Villa one of only a handful of English clubs to have conquered Europe.

In recent years, Aston Villa have continued their resurgence under Spanish manager Unai Emery, qualifying for European competitions and strengthening their commercial profile.

Before Visit Rwanda, the club’s principal shirt sponsors included Betano (2024-2026), BK8 (2022-2024), Cazoo (2020-2022), W88 (2019-2020), 32Red (2018-2019), UNIBET (2017-2018), Intuit QuickBooks (2015-2017), Dafabet (2013-2015), Genting Casinos (2011-2013), FxPro (2008-2011), Acorns Children's Hospice (2006-2008), DWS Investments (2002-2006), Rover (2000-2002) and AST Computers during the 1990s.

Visit Rwanda previously enjoyed an eight-year partnership with Arsenal, reportedly worth more than £10 million per season, helping raise Rwanda’s profile as a tourism and investment destination.

The Visit Rwanda campaign is focused on promoting tourism, investment, business opportunities and international partnerships.

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